Graduation Day
by AkimaDoll
Summary: Oneshot - Jack reflecting on his unorthodox family. Minute traces of Penelope/Kevin, JJ/Will, and Hotch/Emily.


Probably not my best writing, but this is an idea that popped into my head and just wouldn't leave me alone.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own CM, so please don't sue me.

When I was four years old my Mother was killed by a serial killer who had a beef with my Dad. I was there, but I don't really remember any of it. You would think that after my Mother was killed, my childhood would have been lonely, a boy raised by a single working father, but even with my Dad having to be gone for days at a time because of his job, it's hard to be lonely in a family as big as mine.

Both sets of my grandparents had passed away before I was born, and my only other family besides Dad was my Mother's sister, my Aunt Jessica, who would look after me when Dad was busy with a case. When Dad was home, it was just him and me. And the rest of our family: his team.

I should probably explain: when I was a little boy, I thought my Dad and his team were super heroes. They went up against the very worst of the bad guys all the time, and won. Now that I'm older I still think they're super heroes, but I know now that they didn't chase around baddies like Captain America or Iron Man like I did when I was five, but that they are some of the best criminal profilers in the world, the FBI's (in)famous BAU team 2.

They are a tightly-knit group, the team. They have to be - the things they see are often worse than the most horrific thing you can imagine, and because of it they formed a family, a group of people who support each other unconditionally no matter what.

Aunt Penelope fascinated me as a child, with her bright colors, big smile, and crazy hair. She always snuck me a piece of candy behind my Dad's back when I was little, and when I started learning how to use a computer she taught me better than my teachers at school ever could. Uncle Derek still calls her his goddess, which Uncle Kevin accepts with a good-natured smile.

Uncle Derek still hasn't settled down, joking that if he can't have Aunt Penelope than he will have no one at all. Aunt Pen always laughs at that, and then asks how Uncle Derek's latest girlfriend is doing.

I saw Aunt JJ and Uncle Will a lot growing up, because their oldest son Henry is my best friend. Aunt JJ always makes me smile, especially when she's teasing Uncle Reid about something he doesn't get (which is more often than you'd think for a super-genius), and Uncle Will, who on top of making a wicked shrimp gumbo took me to a lot of my sports practices when Dad was in the field.

Uncle Reid. I can't call him Uncle Spenser, or even Uncle Spense like Henry does, it's just odd to me after growing up having everyone call him Reid. He's a genius with an eidetic memory, knows more about random esoteric things than Wikipedia, but you can still confuse him with pop-culture references all the time. Whatever you do though, don't start a nerd-culture-knowledge drinking game with him: no one's liver can handle that much alcohol - some of my college roommates tried, and failed.

Uncle Dave is Uncle Dave. He knows a good joke that could make a sailor blush and taught me how to cook some amazing Italian food, which has saved me from the wrath of my girlfriend many a time.

My Dad, the leader. Always calm and serious on the job to the point where he often appeared emotionless, but he's got a sense of humor, especially when we're at home. After my Mother was killed, he was sad for a long time. He blamed himself for what happened, but eventually he started to be more like his old self again. I have Emily to thank for a lot of that.

Emily. There has always been more to her than meets the eye, and not just her complicated past. When I was five I remember her funeral, and how sad everyone was. When I was six she came back (a very long story), and that's when she and my Dad started spending more time together outside work. Over the years that followed my Dad and Emily's relationship became the worst-kept secret in the whole BAU, and probably the entire FBI. Not one person said anything for all those years though, everyone had too much respect for the team in general to risk anything getting to the Deputy Directors. The day Dad retired from the FBI he finally proposed to Emily. That was five years ago now.

Today each and every member of my family is here, sitting together in the third row. Aunt JJ, Uncle Will, and Henry, Aunt Penelope and Uncle Kevin, Uncle Derek, and Uncle Reid. Uncle David is there, between Uncle Derek and Uncle Reid, 82 years old and still going strong. And then there's Emily and Dad, both trying to keep a serious face to fit the occasion, and failing every time they sneak a look at each other and grin.

They're legends within the FBI. The BAU team that caught more bad guys and put them behind bars than any other two teams combined. The team that fought the bureaucracy tooth and nail to stay together, passing up promotions and fighting transfers. Now they are all retired, not that that stops the Bureau from calling them in from time to time to profile some especially nasty unsub.

They are my family. A large, somewhat dysfunctional family, one that has been there for each other, and been there for me whenever I've needed them. Even those times when I sincerely wished that I had a normal family, and not one that automatically profiled all my friends and every girl I ever took to a High School dance.

It's been twenty years since my Mother was killed, and even though she can't be here today, I know she would be just as proud as the rest of my family.

Because today is the day I graduate from the FBI academy, Special Agent Jack Hotchner.


End file.
